Restoring Faith: Resolving the Roman Catholic Church’s Sexual Scandals Through Restorative Justice (Working Paper I)

Abstract

Two years ago, Independent Academic Research Studies, a UK based international network, started a research and implementation project to explore the potential of restorative justice to help resolve sexual offending cases involving children and young people. One aspect of this project is the use of restorative justice with sexual offending cases that occurred within the Catholic Church. The purpose of this article is to report on the main findings of the first stage of the project, based on desk research into existing or past international projects dealing with the matter. The aim, however, is not to provide a literature review of the main arguments surrounding the topic, but rather a critical overview of the restorative programs and research projects that have been implemented to test the notion’s application in sexual offending cases. The results of these programs will be contrasted with notorious cases that have been processed through the traditional criminal justice system. Therefore, this article is the first in a series on how restorative justice could be applied to help resolve the sexual scandals in the Catholic Church.

Keywords:

• Restorative Justice
• Sexual Offending
• Roman Catholic Church
• Pedophile Priests
• Sexual Abuse
• Reconciliation

Notes

[1] The Justice and Reconciliation Project is a not‐for‐profit organization dedicated to bringing restoration, reconciliation, and healing to crime victims and offenders.

[2] A parish is an administrative part of a diocese that has its own church in Anglican, Roman Catholic, and some other churches.

[3] Monsignor Humberto Medeiros was subsequently Cardinal and Archbishop of Boston.

[4] This was later reduced to around US$23 million.

[5] “Vicarious liability is based on the rationale that the person who puts a risky enterprise into the community may fairly be held responsible when those risks emerge and cause loss or injury to members of the public” (Supreme Court of Canada 2004 SCC17, John Doe v Bennett).

[6] In applying this doctrine to the offence of assault of children, the Supreme Court employed its test in Bazley v Curry, [1992] 2 SCR 534, Jacobi v Griffiths, [1992] 2 SCR 570, and KLB v British Columbia, [2003] SCC 51. It also clarified that in the Jacobi case the Court of Appeal erred by suggesting that non‐profit organizations should not be held vicariously liable for sexual assaults by their employees or agents.

[7] Flesh and the Devil: the Church Faces a Sexual Crisis was screened on CBC.CA on June 9, 2004.

[8] In a recent communication with Professor Gustafson we were told that the project has now gone national.

[9] See www.griffith.edu.au/school/ccj/kdaly/kdaly.html

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Theo Gavrielides

Theo Gavrielides and Dale Coker are respectively the Academic Director and Managing Director of Independent Academic Research Studies (IARS).